Ordered resonessence labs concero hp

[Sunderpalanivel]

Hi Friends,

I have been looking for a suitable DAC / AMP combo for my audeze LCD-X headphones. I was looking for a transportable unit. Initially I was looking only for tube or hybrid design, the only two products that suited my requirement were

- Woo audio WA7 fireflies
- ALO audio Continental Dual Mono

WA7 does seem to be a very good amp however the DAC looks like pretty ordinary, off the shelf solution form what I read online.

I quite liked the ALO CDM but it was little too expensive, but it did match all my requirements such as

- Transportable
- Tube hybrid design
- Designed and benchmarked against their flagship product Studio 6
- Battery powered, so I don't have to worry about the sudden tripping of power spoiling the tubes etc (which was a concern in buying WA7)

However the CDM is very expensive so after doing lot of reading I had concluded that for now I have to give up my tube dream and look for a good SS and came across the resonessence labs concero hp. Seems like it has top notch DAC and AMP in one box running of the USB power. Looking at some great reviews I have ordered one and waiting for delivery

There are some issue here too. There are 2 variants in this product

resonessence labs concero HD and resonessence labs concero HP

The HD is only DAC and has line out

The HP can be used as DAC and AMP, no analog in /out so no option of using it with an external (Tube) amp in future..However some people seem to have had some good result using the 1/4" to RCA cable and connecting it to external AMP, honestly I don't know how good the result will be

Will post some pics and impression after receiving the unit. In the meanwhile anyone else using this DAC/AMP ? it will be great if you could share your thoughts on the SQ.

Thanks for reading
Sunder.

 

[panditji]

That is great news.. do let us know your impressions as a lot of good things have been written about the DAC and it would be great to know your impressions vis a vis your Burson DAC

 

[Nikhil]

Looks like a great choice. Have heard very good feedback on their DACs.
You probably know this but the guys at Resonessence designed the Sabre chip at ESS Technologies.

Regards.

 

[Sunderpalanivel]

You probably know this but the guys at Resonessence designed the Sabre chip at ESS Technologies.

Regards.

Yeah thats mentioned in every review out there

 

[panditji]

When are you getting the Concero HD? Would be great to hear your impressions before I order my Chord 2Qute again...

 

[Sunderpalanivel]

When are you getting the Concero HD? Would be great to hear your impressions before I order my Chord 2Qute again...

Should have it with in next 2 days hyeah:

 

[srisaikat]

I also heard that DACs from Resonessence Labs are most effortless sounding implementation of Sabre chip which generally found otherwise as harsh sounding.

A review or comparison will be nice.

 

[Sunderpalanivel]

Finally received the Concero HP after many sleepless nights due to the (un)professional courier's excellent service. Anyways thats past.

Now I have the unit with me. I knew that its going to be a small unit but its even smaller :lol: but feels significant when placed on my palm.

Here you go first picture.

As you can see in the picture I have not yet connected it to my MAC because it came without an USB chord :sad: I don't have any spare cable with me, as I understand I have to import that too as good brands are not available in India. I wish I knew it while ordering as that I could have asked my friend to get me an USB cable too..

If any of you have a good quality cable and you want to sell it, Im open to buy it.

Will post my impression once I manage to get an USB cable.

Cheers,
Sunder.

 

[Nikhil]

The Supra USB cord is a very good USB cable.
Music Ranch in Bangalore is the dealer for Supra I think.

Another cable which I can recommend and use is the Audiocadabra Optimus
Optimus Handcrafted USB Cables - AUDIOCADABRA

It is a Mumbai based company but the portal is designed for international sales.
Send them an email and you will get a response on how to proceed.

 

[Sunderpalanivel]

The Supra USB cord is a very good USB cable.
Music Ranch in Bangalore is the dealer for Supra I think.
.

Thanks for the information. I spoke to them and they do have the cable only problem is its far far away form where I live.

For now I have borrowed a cable form my friend so now I can order one online and wait for it.

 

[Sunderpalanivel]

Okay, here is the first impression

- Out of the box it sounds fantastic.
- I have nothing to compare it with because only other combination I have heard is directly from my MAC
- Compared to the MAC there is day and night difference
- There is so much detail without any fatigue and it sounds so fluid and smooth. Strings are amazing
- Bass is very deep and instrumentations occupy their own space..
- It has a fantastic amp too, it grabs my LCD-X by its neck.

But its just out of the box..Im planning to burn-in for a week and see if there is any difference. More to come after the burn-in time

Cheers,
Sunder.

 

[Sunderpalanivel]

Okay, I have come back to add some more impressions after trying the Concero HP with two different USB cable

As I mentioned in earlier post the Concero HP came without any USB cable and it was lying around idle for a couple of days, then one of my friend gave me a spare USB cable he had that came as stock cable. I was listening using this cable and I was quite enjoying the music, the SQ was excellent.

While using the Upsampling filter in Concero HP the light is suppose to turn magenta , but it stayed blue with slight change in the colour(means no up sampling happening) but I could not make my mind whether its my eyes are is that all supposed to change.

Today I went and bought the Supra USB cable and the first thing that happened after I connected them was during up sampling the Concero had clear Menjenta colour led display !!! can you believe that ? I have attached 2 pics here one with blue chinese cable and the one with white Supra cable. You can see it for your self. And yeah the SQ has improved several notch instrumentation separation is much better with wider soundstage and imaging the bass goes much more deeper.

Over all I feel I have made a good choice both interns of DAC/AMP as well as the USB cable.

Thanks for reading.

Sunder.